Brunch For Four, For $40

Chef Marc Meyer Shows How With Recipes From His New Book

(CBS) 

RECIPES

ASPARAGUS & BLUE CHEESE FRITTATA

Ingredients:

5 large eggs
Salt and freshly ground black pepper
A few teaspoons of olive oil
1 bunch of asparagus spears
8 pieces of slab bacon
1/4 pound Maytag blue cheese

Method:

1. Preheat the broiler and set your broiler pan (or the shelf in an electric oven) about 3 to 4 inches away from the broiling element.
2. Bring a large pot of heavily salted water to a boil. Blanch 1 bunch of asparagus spears (stems peeled if thick) for 2 minutes in the boiling water, then drain. Cook the 8 pieces of bacon and crumble or coarsely chop. Crumble the 1/4 pound of Maytag blue cheese.
3. Beat the eggs with salt and pepper to taste. Heat the oil in a 10-inch ovenproof skillet over high heat. When it slides easily from side to side, add the eggs. Immediately turn the heat down to low. (If you are using an electric stove, you may want to start the frittata on one burner set to high and transfer the skillet to another burner turned on to low.) Let the eggs cook undisturbed until set on the bottom, then use a heatproof spatula or wooden spoon to pull the eggs away from the rim of the pan and let the loose eggs run underneath.
4. Sprinkle or arrange the toppings over the frittata, then flash the frittata under the broiler to set its surface — 1 minute at the most. Serve hot or warm.

LEMON RICOTTA PANCACKES

Light, airy, and perfumed with lemon and vanilla, our lemon ricotta pancakes are popular because they're the polar opposite of the leaden, bready Frisbees that pass for pancakes most of the time.

Ingredients:

2 cups ricotta cheese (about 1 pound)
4 large eggs, separated
Grated zest of 1 lemon
Pinch of salt
Dash of pure vanilla extract
2 tablespoons sugar
1 cup all-purpose flour
8 tablespoons (1 stick) unsalted butter, melted, plus additional butter as necessary to cook the pancakes
Maple syrup, warmed

Method:

1. Set an ovenproof platter or baking sheet with a cooling rack on top of it into the oven, and turn the oven to 200 degrees.
2. Beat the ricotta and egg yolks together in a large mixing bowl with the lemon zest, salt, vanilla, and sugar. Stir in the flour and 7 tablespoons of the melted butter, working the batter just until it's homogenous and smooth.
3. Whip the egg whites with a whisk or handheld mixer until they hold a stiff peak. With a rubber spatula, gingerly fold half of the whites into the batter, then fold in the remaining half. Don't worry if the resulting batter is lightly stripped with whipped whites — they keep the pancakes light and airy.
4. Heat a large cast-iron or non-stick skillet or griddle over the medium-low heat for a minute or two, then grease the pan with a teaspoon or more of the remaining butter. When the butter starts to sizzle, turn the heat up a touch and ladle in 3½-to-4 inch pancakes.
5. After a couple of minutes, when the bottoms of the pancakes are somewhere between mottled and uniformly brown, flip them and cook another 2 minutes on the other side. Transfer the finished pancakes to the platter in the oven and repeat with the remaining batter. Put your serving plates in the oven to warm before adding the last of the batter to the pan.
6. Serve the pancakes on the warmed plates, with warmed maple syrup on the side.

NOTE: You can substitute orange zest for lemon zest (and add a splash of orange-flower water if you have it on hand) to make Orange Ricotta Pancakes.